Nick Nolte said it himself, hes crazy and I would tend to believe the man. Nolte is easily one of the best actors in the world but he has never gotten an Academy Award and his work is often overlooked because he does mostly independent films now. His latest flick is, The Beautiful Country, an amazing film about a half-Vietnamese half American who leaves his native country to try and find his father in America.

Daniel Robert Epstein: Since he was the producer, did Terence Malick tell you about this project?

Nick Nolte: Terry had but I dont know exactly when. I think it might have been during A Thin Red Line or prior to that. He mentioned that he had a story that I think he got while at a screenwriting class at Harvard. Terry pops up in the oddest places. He had a Vietnamese female student and she had written this little scene about Vietnamese American children. That was the beginning of it. Then all of a sudden, I got this phone call and so that was it. I said, of course Ill do it, cause it completes the Vietnam story for me. I did Wholl Stop the Rain which was about the disillusioned warrior in Vietnam that realizes that were not there for the right reasons and theres nobody that is going to get in a boat and paddle to the United States and throw a bomb at it.

One of the most notorious and best ways to get out of going to Vietnam was the National Guard. It was known for a fact that if you could get in the National Guard you werent going to Vietnam, but only the rich could get in there.

DRE: Youve done some amazing work lately in these smaller independent films, would you like to go back to the Hollywood business?

NN: No I decided about 12 years ago to go in the independent direction and it was because I saw that the studios were fervently in control. That the films were becoming narrower and narrower and the target audience was becoming younger and younger. They were limiting the midrange film, short term profit became the rule of the day, so I lost interest. Ive turned Bruckheimer down 28 times. I knew Don Simpson well and he was a guy that would get up at two oclock in the morning if he didnt have a scene that was working.

The multiplex was designed in mind for more variety, but the studios saw it coming and they just went in there and moved in a big way.

DRE: Its been over 3 decades since the Vietnam war yet its still a sore subject here in the United States to a lot of people. In fact Jane Fonda was just spat on by a veteran of the war. How do you feel about how the America feels about Jane Fonda?

NN: What I did is that I sat down with I sat down with Charles Patterson who is a Vietnam vet and a lieutenant. It took him 28 years to write his book and its one of the best books on Vietnam that Ive ever read because its in the form of poetry. Basically what we discussed was what area had not been satisfactorily approached emotionally for the vet. They were actually spit upon and rejected. It didnt happen in my case. Everyone of my fans that went to Vietnam, we got drunk with them when they left and when they came home we put them in a car and kept them drunk for a month. That wasnt the general experience. There had been no communication between the Vietnamese nationals and the American vet. The average person doesnt think about killing somebody in their lifetime but yet this happened in Vietnam. I think a lot of vets would like to say to the Vietnamese there wasnt any hatred there. I have one vet friend and it still befuddles his mind that in his lifetime hes killed people.

Now the reason Jane gets spit upon is because during the middle of this fight, Jane goes and visits Vietnam. If youd just had your buddys brains blown out and shes talking to the person that laid down the land mine shes going to get spit on. Whether her actions were correct or not is another question. Janes actions were very courageous at the time.

DRE: I was lucky enough to get to speak to http://suicidegirls.com/words/Don+Cheadle/Don Cheadle[/URL" target="_blank"> when Hotel Rwanda came out and I asked him how it was working with you, and he had some very nice things to say, but he also said, Nick is crazy. What do you think you do to give off that impression?

NN: Well Im crazy but a different kind of crazy. I was an extremely shy child so it was very awkward period of time for me. Acting was vital for my own sanity and thats where the craziness comes in. Im extreme in my passion and dedication and commitment to the point of what seems to be absurdity. Certainly, getting picked up for driving while intoxicated didnt help but what people dont know is I had just finished The Hulk and thats the hair that I had in it. I have to deal with this compulsion and this perfectionism which has been difficult to deal with at times. I never held any bones about it. Were all unique theres not another one of you in the universe.

DRE: Thank you.

NN: And each life is a miracle. If we believe that theres going to be happiness in heaven then you wont live this life and Im not that kind of a gambling guy. Nobodys come back and said youll be happy in heaven so its very important that each moment be lived fully. Also what exists in the heart is peace. We have war schools, we have war training but we dont have peace school or a peace department.

NN: No I havent but I know its done. Everybody can do it a little bit.

DRE: Is Rum Diary still going to happen?

NN: Well Hunter died so it just depends on whether Benicio [Del Toro], Johnny [Depp] and myself figure out a way to do it. Rum Diary applies more today than it has in a long time. We find ourselves in most peculiar situations and we find ourselves with having to make individual choices which are really very vital because were on the brink of just continual war. I thought the last century was bad, where we had more wars than in the history of the world. This century is going to be worse unless we have a handle on peace, but a mans got to start with each individual.